As the world continues to urbanize, cities face greater challenges in responding to humanitarian crises and achieving sustainable post-conflict development that upholds everyone’s right to adequate housing. The impacts of conflict are increasingly being experienced in urban areas around the world – as seen in modern crises such as those in Ukraine, the Gaza Strip, Yemen and Syria – putting the housing, land and property (HLP) rights of civilians at risk. HLP issues arise in conflict contexts,…

The Urban-LEDS phase II sought to accelerate the pace of change in cities through targeted support to 72 local governments and 8 national governments to enhance integrated low emission and climate resilient development, access to finance and multi-level governance.
This report presents the learnings and progress from the development of Low Emissions Development Strategies and corresponding Climate Action Plans in 17 cities.

This Regional Representation Strategy for Africa shows a paradigm shift towards sustainable urbanisation as an engine for growth by proactively tackling urban challenges while simultaneously leveraging the opportunities presented by the phenomenon itself.

In cities and urban areas in East Africa, livelihoods and incomes of populations are seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly for those living in informal settlements. These urban populations are more vulnerable to food insecurity and unstable livelihoods as they mainly depend on the informal sector. It is estimated that the number of food insecure people in East Africa will increase to more than 41 million people because of COVID-19 including 14 million urban dwellers.

This guide provides governments with practical opportunities for incorporating urban climate action and human settlement issues into NDC revision and enhancement processes. It is primarily targeted at national governments, specifically NDC coordination teams, but also provides insights for sub-national governments, the wider urban community, networks and non-governmental organisations aiming to support NDC enhancement and implementation process. It includes promising examples from submitted…

Smart City Masterplan provides a framework to guide Rwandan cities and towns in their efforts to harness ICTs to provide a higher quality of life to their citizens, businesses and visitors. The document lays out a vision for cities of the future that embed technology and data across city functions to make them more efficient, competitive and innovative.

Finance has been identified among the most important barriers for the adoption of green building designs, and is the topic this guide seeks to address. The regional market presently does not provide adequate financial mechanisms and alternative lending products, i.e. green mortgages or preferential loans for sustainable, green and energy efficient buildings, and asset finance for integrated renewable energy networks. International experience with such products can inform how green property…

Building materials play a significant role in sustainable architecture. The choice of materials is crucial from the perspective of both the thermal performance and the environmental impact of the building.